U.N.E.

Chapter Five

At the mention of that horrible film they had been shown the entire car went quiet and their eyes dropped. It hadn't been very long since they had seen it and it was still freshly burned onto their retina's and minds. On more than one occasion they had to settle Lisa down whenever she got mad at Kimberly for showing it to them or when she started to sob because she remembered it in great detail.

The car pulled up to the large hangar that was housing the plane they would be boarding and they got out, making sure to grab their bags as none of them seemed ready to talk yet. Angela covered her eyes from the hurtful rays of sunlight and looked out on the sweltering grey tarmac as heat waves wafted high into the air. She had been expecting to see a single cargo plane waiting for them so she was a little stunned to find two massive hulks sitting side by side as airmen checked and double checked them to make sure they were ready to go.

"What's going on?" she asked without even realizing she was speaking out loud.

"They're transporting our cockpits too," Sarah explained and for a moment Angela had a strong urge to smack herself in the face really hard. Of course they would need more than a single plane to transport everything to their destination. The cockpits were still fairly large objects and there would be no way to stuff five of them into a single plane.

Captain Richards and Major Ingles stood near the closest cargo plane as they went over a checklist quickly, their eyes scanning the paper clipped to the thin clear plastic board. When they noticed that they had arrived Major Ingles lowered the clip board and motioned them forward, his camouflage hat with his rank pinned to it covering his serious eyes.

The atmosphere was rather tense for it being so early in the morning and Angela wondered if something had happened. It couldn't have anything to do with the battle effort overseas, or at least what was being released to the public. Every morning when she woke up and every night before she went to bed she would watch the news to see what was happening on the other side of the world, and besides a few minor skirmishes over the last few weeks there was no real news to talk about. The UNE's seemed to be consolidating their territory before expanding further into France and the rest of Europe.

"You're early," the Major grumbled in his usual tone, "we're not scheduled to leave for another hour."

"Isn't it protocol for the pilots to double check the transport of their machine before take off?" Angela asked and Kimberly smiled at her response.

"She's got you there," she giggled but the Major ignored her. "Well go on then, make sure everything is to your liking. The plane closest to us will be transporting everyone's equipment except for Angela's. Yours is in the furthest one away with the cockpit to the Aegis."

Angela couldn't repress the sigh that crawled up through her throat and out of mouth at the announcement that Captain Richards had just made. When she finally realized that it would take more than a single plane to transport everything she also came to find that it would mean that one of them would end up being stuck in the same one as Woods was. She had been hoping it wouldn't be her but it seemed that luck wasn't in her favor this morning.

Michelle seemed to think the same thing because she stamped her foot on the ground in mock protest and stormed off towards the closest plane in a huff, Lisa chasing after her like a lost puppy. Sarah looked back at Angela for a moment with a look on her face that said she was glad it was her instead, before turning and following the others with a relieved look.

"Well, aren't you going to go check on your cockpit?" the Major asked in his gruff voice, snapping Angela out of her mind and back into the real world. She quickly blinked in the bright sunlight and then rushed off towards the plane farthest away, walking under the massive wings of the first plane and letting the shade cool her body down for a few moments.